The Old Folks Home

[ronott1]

Oldest daughter, and the grands are going to be with me for at least 4 years. She's gone back to college and is doing really good with it, but it's going to take time for her to get through it. They've been through a very rough time, and there's no sense in me having so much, while they were struggling to have so little.

I hope they are helping with some of the work at the place.

Good for your DD going back to college! My Mom did that; we were in college at the same time.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Bless you @getaclue for taking on your second 'family' to raise.

It's just Me and DH, plus 4 dogs and 5 cats. I'm forever chasing hair balls around the house. I usually vacuum once a week then dust mop and sweep after that but it is a daily chore. We have vinyl plank flooring and love it. Damp mop once a week unless it's thawing or raining out then more often. Most of the problem for me is that we always have projects going on and have a tendency to carry tools in with us. So there will be screwdrivers or pliers on the futon sofa in the TV area, the island, the counter top,etc. When the dining room table disappeared under clutter I cleaned it off and once cleaned pointed at the table and said 'No No! For both of us!' Funny but at that moment we both stopped cluttering up the table and started eating meals there instead of in front of the tv.

But mainly it is amazing how much of the outside finds its way inside. Missouri dirt just loves to invade the house. The animals are pretty low maintenance except for the Dingbutt with DM but we keep the furniture covered with throws that I collect from the local Good Will store. Those need to be laundered weekly and straightened often. We seldom use our living room and are usually either in the TV area or Radio Room so some areas just need 'tidied' while others need raked and mucked, lol.

Enjoy the kids while you can. Soon enough they will be grown and gone, even grandkids, then there will be plenty of time to clean the house and keep it tidy because you will then be watching the clock waiting for them to come visit the grandparents who were their parents for a short time in their lives.

There is a special place in heaven for grandmas and grandpas who are 'there' when their children's children need them.

I love it when the grandkids visit, but a bit relieved when they go. I have 4 in the same family, 2 boys and 2 girls. Lots of whining and fighting. She "homeschools" them and they spend a lot of time indoors watching tv. If they came to live here, i would be taking them out every day to look at nature. By the end of the day we would all be worn out .

 

[pennyJo1960]

Best thoughts of mice and men.... woulda, coulda, shoulda

 

[bobbi-j]

Morning all. Summer is making its last stand here. 90s for the next few days then cooler fall like temps.

Humming birds were gone for two days now we have 7 outside our radio room window fighting over possession of the feeders.We must be a layover station on their migratory route.

Penny, we are sore here this morning also. Dr adjusted my back and neck last week but didn't do my lower back much good. Muscles are strained for both DH and I from wrangling doggo with DM around.

He is slowly declining and can't move himself around much at all. He loves to be outside so we put him out and he will scoot himself around using his front legs but his back quarters from behind his front legs down are pretty much dead to the world. To get him inside we have to use a sling around his hips. I was able to lift him with one hand last month as he was able to use his back some to help us but he appears to have lost that ability so we are having to do more supportive lifting of him. He's about 55 pounds so it's a workout getting him outside. Inside he can change his position when he wants to but no longer moves around the house.

I just told DH that it's so hard to make the decision of when it is time to say goodbye. Just about every dog I've had in the past has had a terminal health crisis that has made the decision easy to make but from the front legs up, our Dingo is still Dingo, wanting cuddles and kisses and playing with us when we get down with him.

Plans for today. Rake up runs clean up house or rake up house and clean up runs, LOL.

Micro, I know how hard it can be to make that decision. Our last dog developed cancer in his mouth. We were able to keep him for a year or so, eventually feeding him softened dog food so he could eat. Then one night he started bleeding profusely from his tumor. That’s when we knew. I’ve also had to make the call for a couple of horses. My criteria is always the animal’s quality of life. I figure a loyal pet deserves to have that, and if they have to spend their last days in pain or struggling, we need to do the kindest thing for them no matter how hard it is for us. Breaks my heart every time.

 

[getaclue]

Yes, she's aware of the toll it's taking. She was going through some medical issues, and I think we've about got them cleared up, but not totally sure yet. She's better though. She helps a LOT. It just that the kids are young, and more work. Please, the 2 year old can wear out 3 grown people on any given day of the week. It's actually working out pretty good, just quite a bit more work than I had grown accustom to. Another thing was getting them used to some new rules, and the rules being enforced. She went to KY, and got her CPN license, but Florida has no reciprocity with KY for that license, so she could not use it without going back to school. In the meantime, Florida is not accepting CPN licenses after the first of the year. She had to go back anyway to get licensed in Florida, so she's going for the whole ball of wax. When she graduates this time, she will be a licensed RN.

 

[getaclue]

micro, I too understand how hard it is to make end-of-life decisions for our pets. My heart goes out to you.

 

[pennyJo1960]

As we age most of us had to make that choice for a pet or lost them do to age... None of it good or easy ...

 

[chickadoodles]

My heart goes out to everyone struggling whether it's kids, financial,
Pets or just everyday life or a job.

I'm struggling still over the loss of so many of my family members.
I always had a large family and now it's so different with such a small family and we all live so far from each other.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Understand that and Brother has his girlfriend feeding him stories now disowned half sister back in with them, family is us three here

 

[microchick]

Thanks penny, getaclue and chickadoodles

No it isn't easy. We love this dog to pieces but when we finally got a diagnosis for him (actually I found the diagnosis, vet was clueless but when I asked him if it could be DM he agreed that it sure looked that way) we promised ourselves that when he lost bowel and or bladder control we would let him go with dignity. He has occasional trouble holding himself now with is poos if we are late taking him out on schedule but bladder is still hanging in there and so are we.

The way we see it he has been a good and loyal friend for 10 years bringing us more laughter than we thought possible from a dog. We owe him the same loyalty. The only time we really see him unhappy is during the full moon. When he was healthy, he would spend the night outside patrolling the 30 acres and raising merry Hades with anything that even looked at our fence line. Mentally he still wants to do that but physically never again.

Plus, he is family. And you do for family.